During the early 1950s, home builder Joseph Eichler
influenced the face of American architecture by building architect-designed,
mass-produced homes at affordable prices for the average family. His
classic, award-winning style remains the topic of discussion today.
Eichlers were attainable dream-houses when the first came on the market, and
they're still dream-houses for those who are lucky enough to live in them, and
for the hundreds who are hoping that one will go on the market so they can snap
it up. Eichler Homes, Inc., was established in 1949, and in 1959 the
company expanded to Southern California by developing tracts in Orange.
Construction of the Fairhaven tract began in 1960, the Fairmeadow tract in 1962,
and the Fairhills tract in 1963. Eichler homes' innovative designs were
ahead of their time - not simply because of elements like "front-to-back
living," atriums, or including two bathrooms in a three-bedroom house, but
because these elements were included in tract houses. The first Southern
California city to sprout the distinctive post-and-beam homes, Orange is the
site of 350 of the 600 Southern California Eichlers.

Portions
of the Orange Public Library's Historic Orange Preservation Online
project were supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and
Library Services under the provisions of the Library
Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State
Librarian.